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Old 12-13-2017, 04:42 PM   #1
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Gray Tank Cleaner

At present we are full timers and stationary. Am concerned that Gray Tank is not being cleaned out thoroughly when I dump because rv is just sitting and moving around like on the road.
My question is what product have you used that cleans the scrum, grease,etc in the Gray water tank? A lot of products deorderiz well but do they clean the tank.
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Old 12-13-2017, 05:12 PM   #2
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I would put a little bleach in it thru the sink, and not worry too much about it.

If you are concerned, add some bleach to a tank needing emptied, take it for a drive and then dump.

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Old 12-13-2017, 05:26 PM   #3
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I would skip the bleach and use something like dish soap and ammonia
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Old 12-13-2017, 05:30 PM   #4
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Be careful when mixing too many different types of powerful chemicals at once.
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Old 12-13-2017, 06:45 PM   #5
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Dish soap, Calgon and bleach in equal amounts. Used regularly will keep it smelling fresh as a Daisy. I use this mixture in both my black and gray tank.
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Old 12-13-2017, 06:46 PM   #6
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What I do with mine…

First, I never put grease in the gray tank if I can avoid it. If there is grease on the dishes/cookware, I take advantage of the handheld shower head in my wet bath to rinse the grease into the toilet and then into the black tank. Actual food waste gets scraped into the wastebasket first, of course.

Second, after dumping the gray tank, I refill it with clean water (hot water, for as long as the hot water lasts, then cold the rest of the way) and dump it again. But only if I'm in a campground with sewer hookups. Takes too long at a dump station when others might be waiting for me to finish. If we rinse our black tanks after dumping, why don't we rinse our gray tanks?

I don't bother adding dish soap to clean the gray tank. There ought to be more than enough soap in the gray tank already, just from bathing and dishwashing. Besides, if the goal is to remove soap scum, more soap isn't the way to do it. If I notice a buildup of soap in the gray tank— as evidenced by my macerator pump making bubbles as the tank gets low— then this is how I get rid of it. When the gray tank is empty, I add baking soda poured down the drain, followed by white wine vinegar (about 1 cup of each), followed by flushing with hot water as I described in the preceding paragraph. But I don't need to do this every time I dump the gray tank. More often, I just rinse the gray tank with clean water.
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Old 12-14-2017, 05:52 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Olie View Post
At present we are full timers and stationary. Am concerned that Gray Tank is not being cleaned out thoroughly when I dump because rv is just sitting and moving around like on the road.

My question is what product have you used that cleans the scrum, grease,etc in the Gray water tank? A lot of products deorderiz well but do they clean the tank.


You may want to use an attachment that incorporates a connection to blast water back into the gray water tank, here is a link I hope it’s accessible for you to follow the link. You may be able to purchase it for less on Amazon.

https://www.googleadservices.com/pag...Qwg8ISg&adurl=
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Old 12-14-2017, 06:22 AM   #8
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Thanks everyone for suggestions. I'll try some or all of them. One reason I think the tank needs cleaning the tank water level indicater is always red when tank is empty. I thought there may be a commercial product for cleaning and not just for deoderizing.
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Old 12-14-2017, 07:09 AM   #9
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Google "geo method". It uses a mixture of household products for cleaning/maintaining the waste water tanks.

I've been using this method for 3-4 years. It works!

Before I started using the geo method I could not see the plastic at the bottom of the black tank due to hardened crud. After a few uses, I can see clean plastic after I dump the tank. This method also keeps the liquid level sensor clean.

add edit:
https://sites.google.com/site/cbruni/
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Old 12-14-2017, 07:28 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Olie View Post
Thanks everyone for suggestions. I'll try some or all of them. One reason I think the tank needs cleaning the tank water level indicater is always red when tank is empty. I thought there may be a commercial product for cleaning and not just for deoderizing.
The tank level sensors become notoriously inaccurate after a few years. And once they become unreliable, it can be darn near impossible to bring them back to life (especially on the older AS' such as yours that use the three metal stud sensor method. The See Level sensors on newer AS' are slightly better.)

We are also essentially full timers and we use RV Digestor in our black tank on a regular basis. It's basically a bacterial enzyme similar to what is used in residential septic systems. We will use this product in our grey tank from time to time. It keeps a colony of helpful bacteria alive in the grey tank (as well as the black) that seems to help with grease, odor, etc..
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Old 12-14-2017, 08:09 AM   #11
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There's a YouTube video by a guy that did some elaborate testing on the Rhino Blaster and his conclusion was that it doesn't work. Of course, I had already bought one before watching the video. Want to buy one cheap?
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Old 12-14-2017, 08:28 AM   #12
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There's a YouTube video by a guy that did some elaborate testing on the Rhino Blaster and his conclusion was that it doesn't work. Of course, I had already bought one before watching the video. Want to buy one cheap?


Judge for your self!

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https://youtu.be/EM6hJp2bPbg
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Old 12-14-2017, 09:23 AM   #13
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I don't want to rain on your party but there is no effective way to clean the gray water tank. This is because the gray tank side walls attract grease and a film will build on the walls over time. Over time you can witness this build up in the increased time it takes for the last drop of water to come from the gray tank. That is the water draining out of the buildup on the tank walls. I am not stating this without experience having had to replace both tanks on a friends RV after he drove over a tire tread at highway speed. I will say the gray tank was much dirtier and smellier than the black tank.

Watch the videos on RV tank cleaning and you will find additional time to enjoy camping.

I look at it this way. I clean my tanks as often as I clean the sewer pipes at home.
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Old 12-14-2017, 09:43 AM   #14
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I don't want to rain on your party but there is no effective way to clean the gray water tank.
Baking soda and vinegar clean soap scum off of just about anything. I don't see why the plastic gray tank should be an exception.

Baking soda and vinegar together are also a pretty effective way to remove grease from surfaces.

The only drawback to using these two household products in the gray tank is that you can't add a third ingredient that you could use in your home kitchen or bathroom— elbow grease. No practical way to scrub the inside of the gray tank to work the baking soda/vinegar mixture into the gunk coating the tank.
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